Hearing Test: A Complete Guide

The speech test is similar to a pure tone test, but instead of listening to different vowels, you hear a few words spoken in different editions, which are called for repeating.

The
results allow hearing health care professionals prepare an audiogram that helps
them determine your speech reception limit and speech therapist will
help you to overcome from the speech disorders

The
speech reception threshold shows how well you listen to and understand ordinary
conversations.

Different
types of Hear testing

Auditory
Brainstem Response (ABR): Your ear is made up of three parts – external,
middle and inner ears. Auditory Brain Reaction (ABR) test tells us that
the inner ear, which is called cochlea, and the brain route are working
for the hearing. You can also call it hearing development (AEP). Testing
is done with those children or others who can not complete normal hearing
screening. If your symptoms can occur in the hearing or loss of brain in
the brain, then the ABR is also used.

Otoacoustic
Emissions (OAEs): Your ear is made up of three parts – external, middle
and inner ears. The OAE test is used to find out how well your internal
ear, or cochlea, works. It measures otoacoustic emissions or OAEs. These
are the voices given by the inner ear when answering a sound. In the inner
ear, there are hair cells that respond to the sound by vibrations.
Vibration produces a very quiet sound that echoes back in the middle ear.
This sound is OAE which is measured. If you have a general hearing, you
will produce OAE. If your hearing loss is more than 25-30 decibels (DB),
then you will not produce these very soft sounds. This test can also show
whether there is any obstruction in your external or middle ear. If there
is any obstruction, then no voice will be able to go through the inner
ear. This means that there will be no vibration or voice which comes back.

Pure-Tone Testing: You may have a trial of your
hearing at the school or doctor’s office. Whenever you hear the
“beep” you can remember to set up a phone and raise your hands.
This is a pure-vowel test. This is also called an air conduction test
because the sounds pass through your outer and middle ear. This test helps
to find the quietest sound at different pitches or frequencies. By having
earphones, the sounds go into one ear at a time. Occasionally, it is not
possible to use earphones. An example is when a child refuses to wear
them. In these cases, the sound comes through the speaker inside the sound
booth. This is sound-field screening. The voice goes into both ears at the
same time. This type of test does not show whether there is only one ear
hearing impairment.

You may respond to the sounds by

Raising a finger or hand

Pressing a button and pointing to the ear
where you heard the sound

Saying “yes” to indicate that you
heard the sound

Speech Testing: An audiologist can do many tests to
check your hearing. Speech testing will focus on how well you hear and
repeat the words. A test speech is a reception threshold or SRT. SRT can
talk to older children and adults. Results are compared with pure-sound
test results so that hearing loss can be identified. The audiologist will
call you the word through headphones, and you will repeat the words. The
audiologist will record the softest speech that you can repeat. You may
need to repeat those words that you listen to loudly. This is done to test
the word recognition. Speech testing can be in a quiet or noisy place.
Those who suffer from hearing loss often say that they have the most
difficult listening to noise. So, it’s helpful to test how well you hear
in noise.

What to expect from Speech Testing?

Once air and bone conduction trials have been
completed, the hearing will proceed to a health professional speech test. All
speech tests are given through the headphones or earbuds in the sound booth.
The first hearing health professional will determine your listening hearing
level. They will divert the quantity to a point which is easy for the patient
to hear the speech. After this, they will find the lowest level that the speech
can be heard, even if it is not fully recognizable. They will turn the quantity
at one point which is easy for the patient to hear the speech. After this, they
will find the lowest level that the speech can be heard, even if it is not
fully recognizable.

Understanding your responses

Once these specific levels are met, speech
testing can begin. Speech testing is similar to air and bone tests, in which
something is given to the patient and the patient responds. In this case, one
word is given to the patient and the patient should repeat the word correctly
to the hearing health professional.

Speech testing results

Speech testing is important so that not only
can the healthcare professional not only help their patients to understand the
problems better with speech but also help in future programming of the
patient’s hearing aids. Speech testing helps in knowing the levels of auditory
aid in those levels which can be tolerated by the patient and at what level the
patient is comfortable to listen to most things. Off course adjustment will
always be done for hearing aid, but it helps to understand patient and hearing
health professionals with the test, air, and bone tests, and diagnoses the
hearing impairment which is present properly. .